CORPORATIONS: Wonder Boy Makes Good

There is little logical reason why the
Rexall Drug Co. should prosper. The nation's biggest drug chain (11,158
franchised stores), it breaks most of the textbook rules. Its
distribution system is as old-fashioned as a Stanley Steamer. It has
two-thirds of its stores scattered where only one-third of the
population lives. It invests only 2½% of product sales in advertising,
well below many of its competitors. But last week greying, handsome
President Justin Whitlock Dart, 51, announced that the firm's
first-half sales were up 8%, net profit 26%. This year's volume should...